Eight years ago today, the Orioles signed Miguel Tejada to a six-year contract worth $72MM, the richest deal in franchise history. The 2002 AL MVP had the three best seasons of his career (in terms of wins over replacement, or WAR) during his first three years in Baltimore, and hit .305/.354/.481 with 109 homers during his five years with the Orioles. Tejada spent the last year of the contract with the Astros after being traded for Luke Scott, Matt Albers, Dennis Sarfate, Troy Patton, and Mike Costanzo.
Here is the latest batch of links from around the web, now that the dust from the winter meetings has settled…
- Rum Bunter interviewed Pirates GM Neal Huntington about the roster, the budget, etc.
- Phoul Ballz spoke to Phillies prospect Tyson Gillies, who's focused on a rebound year.
- The Baseball Nerds wrote about the fallout of Ryan Braun's failed drug test.
- Pro Ball NW entertains the idea of trading Felix Hernandez.
- Redbird Rants walks down memory lane with Albert Pujols.
- Ranger Rap looked at the Rangers' side of C.J. Wilson signing with the Angels.
- Chicken Friars imagines a world where the Padres sign Prince Fielder.
- Brotherly Glove thinks Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. has done a good job dealing with Jimmy Rollins.
- That Ball's Outta Here is curious to see how Dontrelle Willis fares with the Phillies.
- Rant Sports Marlins wonders if the Marlins left the winter meetings as losers.
- Sports of Boston explores the possibility of Hanley Ramirez returning to the Red Sox.
- River Ave. Blues thinks the Yankees may be repeating their Johan Santana trick with Yu Darvish.
- Over The Baggy explains why Josh Willingham was built for Target Field.
- Puckett's Pond plays devil's advocate with the Willingham signing.
- Jays Journal isn't sure that Carlos Beltran is on the Blue Jays' radar.
- North and South of Royal Brougham compares Michael Cuddyer to Luke Scott.
- Through The Fence Baseball says to bank on Bryce Harper starting next season with the Nationals.
- Cubbies Crib wrote about Aramis Ramirez joining the Brewers from the Cubs' perspective.
- Breaking Wisconsin covered all of the recent moves made by the Brewers.
- Drays Bay looks at Jeremy Hellickson and David Price as extension candidates.
- U.S.S. Mariner wonders if the Mariners should sign Michael Pineda long-term.
- Rising Apple thinks Travis Snider would be a good fit for the Mets.
- Bay City Ball wonders if Brandon Crawford's glove is good enough to carry his bat.
- Blog Red Machine put together a pitching wish list for the Reds.
- Wahoo's on First thinks the Reds might be overestimating Yonder Alonso's trade value.
- Motor City Bengals asks if teams are overvaluing their prospects.
- District on Deck believes the Nationals should inquire about Eric Young Jr.
- The Hottest Stove plays "If I Were GM" with the NL East teams.
- Baseball Reality Tour looks back at the remains of the trade that sent Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis to the Tigers.
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